Chapter 72. The Anomaly

“You’re not the only one learning.”

Harper Quinn’s lips curved into a smile—quiet but fierce just beyond impossibility. Something in her spine shifted. The reset wasn’t a reset. Not really. It was a crucible.

They were watching her. Watching the fracture she’d become—and betting it would burn.

So let them watch.

She would become the flame.

***

The next morning, Forge Tower’s corridors hummed with anticipation. Harper navigated the glass catwalks like she had eyes in her heels—always forward, always electric. But inside, her blood carried a new kind of fire. Not anger, but understanding. A clear mind that something catastrophic could still glow.

She entered the main command suite. Lucien looked up from his stream of data, surprise and relief warring in his gaze.

He barely said it. “You’re back.”

She nodded and passed him her comm unit.

Her voice was steady, deeper than before. “Patch me into Bastion stream. I want that emoti